Repeated pleas by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asking members to go back to their places went unheeded.
The Rafale fighter jet debate that has been continuing since the beginning of the winter session of parliament is yet again at the centre of a storm in Lok Sabha today. Only two days are left for the Parliament Winter Session to end. In a heated debate in parliament on Friday, punctuated by questions and accusations from the opposition, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave an extensive response that lasted for more than two hours. Attacking the Congress for questioning her and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's integrity, Ms Sitharaman defended the deal for the 36 Rafale fighter planes, signed after the Congress-led contract of 126 jets was scrapped. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had attacked PM Modi and Nirmala Sitharaman on the Rafale issue, saying the prime minister is hiding in his room and cannot answer his questions.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day following the uproar in the House over protests by various parties.
Here are the LIVE UPDATES from the Winter Session of Parliament:
The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned for the day amid ruckus by opposition members, soon after it met in the post-lunch sitting. Deputy Chairman Harivansh adjourned the House for 15 minutes. As the House met again at 2.20 p.m., the scene was no different.
The Chair then adjourned the House for the day.
Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2.30 pm due to protests by Samajwadi Party and Congress members over a CBI probe against Akhilesh Yadav on alleged illegal mining and the Rafale issue respectively.
After sparring on twitter with Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today reiterated in parliament that her statement on orders worth Rs. 1 lakh crore for state-run defence manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was not false. "I have received confirmation from HAL that between 2014 and 2018, contracts amounting to Rs. 26,570 crore have already been signed,"
the Defence Minister said, adding that orders worth Rs. 73,000 crore were in the pipeline. "This confirms the correctness of my statements and the doubts that have been raised on my statement on HAL contracts are incorrect and misleading," she said.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Monday after an uproar by opposition parties over various issues, including a CBI probe against Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on alleged illegal mining. Left party members, too, got up to raise the raise the issue of violence by the BJP in Kerala over the entry of women in Sabrimala temple while Congress MPs sought a debate on the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has suspended members of AIADMK and Telugu Desam Party for disrupting House proceedings. Three AIADMK MPs P Venugopal, KN Ramchandran, K Gopal and TDP MP N Shivaprasad were suspended for two days under Rule 374A.
Within five minutes of the commencement of Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the proceedings till noon as the furore continued.
A lone AIADMK member was also in the Well of Lok Sabha, protesting the construction of a dam across the Cauvery river. He was joined by Telugu Desam Party's Naramalli Sivaprasad, who was dressed like former Tamil Nadu chief minister MG Ramachandran.
Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 pm on Monday after witnessing unrelenting protests by the Congress demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe in the Rafale fighter jet deal. Soon after the House assembled, the Congress members trooped near the Speaker's podium and started sloganeering demanding the probe in the deal for 36 Rafale jets.
Lok Sabha has been adjourned till noon today while proceedings of Rajya Sabha have been adjourned till 2 pm amid protests by opposition and other parties over various issues.
Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today said that the Triple Talaq Bill was not a question of the BJP-led government's reputation. "The Bill is meant to get justice for women. So everyone should support it. We all must help in getting the Bill passed," he said. The Bill is listed in Rajya Sabha.
The Aam Aadmi Party and the Trinamool Congress have planned to give notices under rule 267 over the Rafale issue in Rajya Sabha. The Opposition in both houses is likely to launch attacks on the BJP over the Rafale deal.